Scarlett Johansson is the kind of chick
you can't blame your boyfriend for having
a crush on. Everything about her—
from the pinup girl platinum locks, to the
bombshell body, to the deep, throaty
voice—exudes sexiness. But it's more
than her timeless beauty and out-of-the-ordinary
talent that makes her the ideal
cover girl for Cosmo's 40th birthday
issue: It's also her confidence and sophistication,
which at times make her seem
a lot older than she is (only 20!).
Scarlett's maturity no doubt has something
to do with the fact that she's been
acting professionally since she was 8
years old. She first caught our eye in
1998, when after losing the role in The
Parent Trap to Lindsay Lohan, she was
cast as a traumatized teen in The Horse
Whisperer. After that, she continued to
sidestep the teen-flick pigeonhole, opting
instead to play more complex characters.
The instinct paid off: Her
performances in Girl With a Pearl Earring,
Lost in Translation, and A Love
Song for Bobby Long all earned her
Golden Globe nominations. This year,
the actress has two polar-opposite flicks
out: the sci-fi thriller The Island (released
last summer), in which she plays a human
clone, and the period comedy A Good
Woman (an adaptation of an Oscar Wilde
play), in theaters this month.
Scarlett's made some pretty darn good
choices in her love life too. She's reportedly
been linked with some of the hottest
actors in Hollywood, including Jared
Leto and, most recently, Josh Hartnett.
But it hasn't all been wine and roses.
Over lunch, the star dished to Cosmo
about her worst relationship ever, the
man she would like to ream out, and her
buried little secret.…

S: We had contractual differences. It's
a shame, because I rehearsed with Tom
Cruise for a long time and I loved working
with him. He's a sweetheart. I went
to one of the Scientology centers with
him. I've worked with a lot of Scientologists,
so I know a bit about it. [Tom] is
really enthusiastic about it, and when
you're working with someone, you want
to see what makes them tick.

C: Where do you call home?

S: I bought a house in L.A., but I got
lonely and sold it and moved into the
Chateau Marmont. Then I got a fish,
because I was lonely there. He was a
Japanese fighting fish named Cassius. I
cleaned his water every three days, but
somebody took care of him for a week
and they let his water get dirty. He got a
skin disease and died. I was mortified. I
dug a giant hole in the garden at the
Chateau Marmont and buried him. I
know it was just a fish, but somehow he
became a good friend of mine.

C: And now you have Maggie,
a Chihuahua?

S: Yeah, she's this little bitty thing. The
first three days, she didn't make a sound.
Then the fourth day, she started barking
incessantly. It was irritating, so I taught
her not to bark. You spray them in the
butt with a water bottle. It doesn't hurt.

C: Hmm…maybe that technique
could work on guys too.

S: I bet it would work. Right in the ass.
That would get them to stop whining.

C: Speaking of guys, how old
were you when you had your
first real boyfriend?

S: Fourteen. I fell in love with him. You
go through puberty and feel like there's
nobody in the world who's ever going to
understand you. Then you meet this
other person and you're connecting with
them and exploring things you've never
explored before. You never have that
again. There's a codependence in having
a boyfriend at 14. [You feel like] "I'm
gonna marry you and have your children!"
It was a lovely relationship and
we're still friends, but I don't ever want
to feel that codependent again.

C: Do you have a boyfriend?

S: I don't want to talk about my personal
life. I've never said I was dating anybody,
but people make things up and start
following you around anyway. I don't
think it's anybody's business, unless I'm
engaged. Then I'd feel confident talking
about a relationship.

S: Well, it's usually like, "She's got a
tummy bulge! She's got sagging saddlebags!"
And [the body part] is circled in
red and there's an arrow pointing to it
that reads "Saddlebags!" It's mortifying.
How can you ignore that?

C: Do you feel pressure to be
thin when you see all these
other actresses shrinking?

S: No. The only pressure I ever feel is
if I look in the mirror and don't like
what I see. I'm like "You could start
jogging more." I'm never going to look
at a picture of Uma Thurman and think
I can have her body. It's not what I'm
supposed to look like. I once heard that
women dress for women—not for
men—and I think that has some truth
to it. Men, what do they know? They
don't know if you gain or lose five
pounds. They're oblivious to those
kinds of things. A lot of men will say "I
like you just as you are." And you're like
"But I'm bloated!" If they're attracted
to you, they're attracted to you.

C: What's one kind of man you
now stay away from?

S: I've had the problem of dating a
cocaine addict. It was horrible. I
won't allow myself to get involved
with somebody like that again because
you're never as important as the drug.
You can't trust them, and you never
Know where they are. They lie.
Every time they blow their nose, you're
like, hmm.

C : What, in your opinion, is the
major difference between men
and women?

S: Men have to spread their seed, even
if they're not that attracted to somebody.
If they feel the urge or if they have to
prove something to themselves, they'll
sleep with anyone. [Women are more
discriminating] because we are receiving
something. You have to let someone inside
of you, so it's more invasive.

C: It's been reported that you
are very close to your mom. Was
she the first person you told
when you lost your virginity?

S: No. I waited to tell her, and when I
finally told her, she cried. She was like
"Oh, God! I really hope that you used
protection." I was like "Yeah." My mom
has always told me, "I feel so bad for
your generation. When we were growing
up, there was a sexual freedom that
will never exist again." AIDS forces you
to think about someone's sexual past,
which you really don't want to be thinking
about when you're sleeping with
someone. You know, we're supposed to
be liberated in this country, but if our
president had his way, we wouldn't be
educated about sex at all. Every woman
would have six children, and women
wouldn't be able to have abortions.